Show ka ua 0 I 1 THE STORY BO 60 FAR fall buck hart brother bro t her of sheriff sher I 1 if hart a rt Is found a ad with a li du bullet in his back lie fe was by y the big cattlemen said laid Us his friends tr lends 1 ome ol of them rustlers lie ile himself was believed to be one at the general tore store terry asked for stock in the company provided he was made manager since nobody in the territory knew cows better than terry the directors jumped at the offer the news ot of the deal shocked the small settlers they felt that he had betrayed them A bitter resentment wiped out his popularity politically the small man daml na bated ted the county the neste desters rs combined with the people of the towns to elect tickets opposed to the cattle barons CHAPTER ill III terry tightened the saddle cinch he caught a glimpse of a face st staring ar at him from a grimy window of the red triangle saloon A moment later a gun roared his hat tilted forward through the brini brim and the crown a bullet had torn its way calhoun terry dismounted he walked back along the wooden sidewalk close to the wall and pushed through the swing doors of the red triangle three customers were at the bar alford turley brand the gaze of terry picked them up in turn it observed also that the back door was ajar he had a mental vision of somebody vanishing into the alley swiftly a moment before his entry a heavyset heavy set bowlegged man with an ugly sullen face by god you take the cake terry brand said with a hard laugh you got away with it at evans store etore dont you reckon youre pressing yore luck too too far fan the cattleman ignored the question lee hart have time to shut the door when he ran away terry asked there was a pause too long before brand spoke hart been here there was another moment of silence before turley answered we heard a shot it come from here if what you mean the cowman stretched out his left arm and laid a forefinger on the hole in one of the panes of the window beside him my mistake he said fellow shot that hole in the window in a row two months ago the barten bartender dev explained terry did some swift guessing the bullet which had passed through his hat had come from a rifle the sound of the shot told him that but hart had been armed only with a reval revolver ve r Thi therefore he had b borrowed or the saloon winchester since he was in a hurry to get away unnoticed he had nettalien not taken it with him the weapon must still be in the room but calhound Cal houns searching eyes had not found it probably somebody had passed it to the saloon man who hid had hurriedly put it under the bar terry held out an expectant hand give me that rifle under the bar he ordered the bartenders eyes grew big why mr terry I 1 I 1 dont reckon the rifle interrupted terry coldly you dont have to give it to him hank brand told the man this fellow aint cock a doodle doo in this town apparently the bartender was of a abiff different erent opinion ile he stooped down and passed a rifle across the top of the bar an investigation showed that it had been fired very recently terry laughed scornfully and handed it back to the man m an in the white apron somebody may want it again to shoot me in the back when I 1 leave lie he said terrys gaze passed to rest on alford im a little surprised at you roan when awas I 1 was your neighbor you have stood back of bf a scoundrel who tried to shoot another man in the back alford shifted uneasily on his feet A flush crept up into his wrinkled face 1 I dont stand back of anybody doing it now he said calhoun terry gave him a a long keen look he could see that the little man was embarrassed and ashamed 1 I get it roan lee too took kyou you by surprise give you time to st stop him we he let his cold eyes sweep the room again disdainfully then turned and pushed through the swing dours doors CHAPTER IV though it was not yet seven the morning sun flooded the land w with ith light so still was the air that even the as aspen pen leaves did not tremble it seemed to ellen carey during that momentary impression a country without voice and empty of life yet the fugitive thought had not faded from her mind before a meadowlark flung out its gay and joyous song before she saw outlined against the hor horizon izona a file of antelope passing through the sagebrush it was all familiar to her yet how good to see for five years she had been away at school with her aunt in kansas city she turned bucks head toward the ranch breakfast would be walt wait mw installment TWO la in round top calhoun terry manager ol of the diamond reverse B 0 ranch resents intimations that he be knows know about the killing terry was formerly a small mall rancher lie ile sold old his bli place to the big ranch and won the enmity of the email i ing for her and lane carey liked to have his daughter eat with him at the top of the first rise she stopped a moment to look down into the valley where the box 55 lay among the cottonwoods cotton woods by the river from the hollow beyond rose a cloud of slowly moving dust she knew what that meant cattle or horses were on the march maich A rider showed on the nearer lip of the hollow while she watched a second came out of the valley and joined him one of the men rode a bay horse the other a black it was too far to be sure but she thought she recognized the one on the bay there was a lithe grace about the figure that suggested jeff brand A faint pink beat into her cheeks that reckless neer do well had been in her thoughts a great deal during the past two weeks she found the combination of deference and audacity in him fascinating at at breakfast ellen mentioned the raa riders rs she had seen lane carey took this more seriously than she had expected you near enough to know who they were the girls answer was delayed only a fraction of a second she told the truth with a reservation no carey lane was an honest man he had cows himself and no man cou could id say he used a running iron too 1 I I 1 1 1 ra A moment later a gun roared freely though times were hard he had made a reasonably good living because he had the post office offic i at black butte and ran the stage station but borne bome of his neighbors were hard pressed low prices and short feed had kept them impoverished until recently they had made ends meet by working part time for some some of the big cattle outfits but the large ranches owing to the prevalence of rustling had made a ruling not to employ any man who had cattle of his own the result had been to increase rather than decrease thefts he rose from the table and picked up a dusty weather beaten hat wish take care of the mail today honey he be said 1 I got to help jim fix the pasture fe fence nce may not be back in time all right dad black butte was the halfway house of the stage line che passengers and driver ate dinner at the box 55 every day but sunday i ellen spent most of the morning at the house when the stage rolled up to the door ellen was at the post office waiting for the lean sack backof of mail the stage driver flung on the table for sorting six passengers emerged from the concord and streamed to the eating house during alie the hour the stage was there black butte was a gathering place tor for the neighborhood men sat on the porch and exchanged gossip cowboys on the bread line camo came here to learn who needed riders snatches of talk drifted back to ellen she caught baught the name buck hart once and two or three times that of his brother lee they were connections by marriage of the carey family rather remote but they called her cousin ellen the girl had raised no objection though she had no great interest in them through the window she caught sight of a man alighting from a sorrel horse A faint excitement stirred in her she heard someone walking across from the big house her father said hows everything jeff the drawling answer was fine and dandy lane carey relieved his daughter and she walked out of the post office three men lounged on the porch one of them joined ellen and strolled to the house with her thought I 1 saw you this morning while iwas I 1 was riding she said brand slanted a look at hernot men they regarded him as ai having gone over ever to the enemy lie had been their leader and they resented deeply an act which they abey somehow regarded as f some how not in accord with the interests of the smaller mailer ranch owners owner ft unless you were up at jack jacki turleys curleys Tur leys place he answered vve ive been busy breaking a colt to the saddle no I 1 was out flat top way he shook his head must have been someone else he smiled at her ill have to do better ahafi that cant have you mistaking every ery bowlegged waddy for me it matter does it A lot take a good look at me young lady she did not avail herself of the offer ive seen you before she mentioned and see me again any number of times dear mel Is that a threat or a promise she asked lightly ills his cool eyes rested on her dark good looks its a promise to myself you dont know how grateful I 1 am she mocked with an ironic curtsey are you grateful enough to t 0 let me take you to the sleepy cat ranch dance he wanted to know she considered that a moment no I 1 dont think so she added of course im greatly flattered why wont you go with me must I 1 give reasons are you going with someone else since you ask yes 0 who find out in time if you are there he did not like it she saw that there was i a suggestion of sulkiness in his good looking face 1 I hope hell enjoy himself whoever he is there was an implication in his manner that the unknown escort might not find pleasure in all of the evening 1 I do hope so if he looks bored it will be a bad social start tor for me wont it he wont be bored brand predicted ill help you entertain him ellen read into ills his words vindictive resentment she stopped slim and straight dark eyes flashing 1 I dont think that will be necessary mr brand it will be a pleasure he told her they had reached them the house the girl moved up the porch porch steps andl and turned to look down at him she said slowly 1 1 I can seekim see im riot not going to like you not at all abashed he smiled up at her confidently oh yes you are very much ill take care oi of that she felt anger stirring stir ring in her some people would call it impudence she said a tide of color in her cheeks ellen turned and walked into the house leaving him there in jeffs eyes as he walked back to the post office little devils of mischief gleamed long ago he had discovered that one way to stir a girls interest in him was to arouse her resentment it kept her mind full of him iwhite she was devising ways of sat satisfying I 1 s f y in 9 I 1 it t his quick glance picked up another horse at the hitch rack across the road from the post office it did not take him a second look to read the brand A gent from the diamond reverse B with us this morning he asked one of the loungers his royal nibs a young man in chaps answered none other than mr calhoun terry terry came out to the porch let his gaze drift around slowly and crossed the road to his horse horie there was a cool arrogance in the way he ignored brand that got under that young mans skin jeff could not let it alone 1 I see you are still wearing the hat that went to the wars mr terry he jeered did you do anything about that matter you were going to take under consideration without a word terry swung to the saddle and jogged bogged down the road jeff glared angrily at his broad flat back then turned and walked into the office what did terry want he asked abruptly carey looked at him surprised wanted to know if I 1 had bad seen anything of a bunch of she stuff missing from a park where he had them herded what did you tell him 1 I dont like the way you ask that question jeff the ranchman said quietly brand corrected his manner sorry I 1 meant were you able to give him any information 1 I told him ellen bad seen a bunch being driven into the hills carey said the eyes in his tanned leathery face without expression who was driving it she close enough to tell that night at supper ellen said to her father are you going to beau me to the sleepy cat dance the matter with the young men are they all asleep he asked not all of them I 1 had an invitation from a very good looka looking ing man TO BE CONTINUED |